Horrors Under The Mistletoe
by Kaz-terboro
Summary: These are the tales which parents never tell their children. The words which wrap around their small hearts and invoke the terror in their dreams. But is it truly just a story? Or is the Jolly Killer really out there... laughing through the unsuspecting night.


**Horrors Under The Mistletoe**

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All rights go to their respective owners.

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_Note: This is an idea I've had since last December, finally got around to writing it. Hopefully I can get all I want into it before Christmas. Lolright. This'll just be the intro. The next chapters will have more substance to them as they progress... hopefully. _

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As snow dappled the windows in a type of snowy veil... the air grew colder.

Hushed voices whispered in the dark.

This was the night that parents told their children to be wary of... when the ice bearing clouds passed across the moon... and nothing could be seen in the quiet hush of night.

No... nothing could be heard, save the sound of bells.

This sound haunted every man and woman, this sound made their children tremble in fear.

No one could know where it would strike next.

None save the devil himself... the bringer of nightmares.

Oh, you know of whom I am speaking of. It can't be hard to figure out. That one man... he sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake, he knows if you've been bad or good. And he'll kill if you make a mistake.

Many of the tales that have been created during the past, and still now, have been cheery, quaint, little stories of a merry old fellow.

Rosy cheeks... and a hearty laugh.

Lies.

Everything you know of this man... has been manipulated by himself and his little gremlins... the elves.

For three hundred and sixty four days of the year, he plans and waits... watching his prey quietly.

Here I must clarify, no one has really SEEN him... no, these are all their own imaginings, the blind denial of reality that leads so many to be careless and rash. No man has seen this... Santa.

At least, no man survived to tell the tale.

But whispers spread nonetheless.

Of grandmothers who turned up dead in the snow... clobbered by what seemed to be hooves.

A father, trapped in a fireplace, head down, only to be found when the smoke had nowhere else to go.

And children, disappearing into thin air.

Oh, but nothing was to be done. Yes, there were few who tried to prevent him from entering their homes... these would seemingly vanish, their homes burned down "accidentally" by the fires that they must have carelessly maintained.

What were their stories?

... what could have happened to them?

The world never knew, and quickly forgot. Content in their delusions of safety.

These were the days of Santa Claus. The days where he had his way on the world, doing as he pleased.

Oh, and he pleased.

For people did hear the hearty laughter... yes, laughter.

And it would warm their hearts, while another's heart was growing cold with death and fear.

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These are the tales which parents never tell their children. The words which wrap around their small hearts and invoke the terror in their dreams. But is it truly just a story? Or is the Jolly Killer really out there... laughing through the unsuspecting night.

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"Shhhh", Anna's mother smiled lovingly and touched the toddler's nose, "You have to be sleeping for Santa to come. Otherwise, guess what?" She paused for dramatic effect, her auburn hair slipping from her shoulder as she leaned over her daughter's bed.

"What?" Eyes wide, the little blonde girl listened, enraptured by her mother's words, the warmth of her body making her feel safe as she nestled expectantly in her tightly snugged covers.

"You might not get any presents!"

The little girl gasped in mock surprise, the past two years having followed the same routine. "But I don't want coal in my stocking!" With her hands clasped tightly to her puffed rosy cheeks, Anna looked like a surprised cherub, eyes glistening with delight as she hardly felt the need to sleep.

A lighthearted laugh escaped Jen's lips, "Well then you should hurry up and sleep already! Who knows what you might find in your stocking if you stay up too late." With a wink, the lanky woman kissed the girl's forehead and gave her covers another pat, making sure she was bundled up nicely against the winter chill.

"Goodnight, dove."

"Night, Mamma."

Smiling, her mother deftly flicked the light off, darkness enveloping the room. "Sleep well, little one." Standing, the young woman left the room, pulling the door closed with a soft click behind her. The sound of her a middle-aged man mingled with her mother's voice for a few minutes before quieting as her parents went to sleep.

The familiar scent of her mother lingered before the warmth of her blankets and the muffled sound of the snowstorm outside gradually lulled her to sleep.

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_"AAAAAAAAAAGH!"_

Anna's eyes snapped open in surprise at the scream and confusion passed across her face as she groggily wiped the drool from her chin. "M-momma?" It was still dark outside, but the storm had passed, frost covering the window in an icy sheen.

Why would momma make such a loud sound?

The question was pushed from the child's mind as a sweet scent drifted into her room, slipping in through the crack under the door. Honey, cookies, sugar, yummy sweet things which made her mouth water. Were momma and dad making breakfast early? She wondered if her momma was just surprised, remembering that her father liked to surprise the woman with lovey kisses.

Eyes shining, Anna pushed down her covers, messy blonde locks falling into her face as she pulled her candy-cane pajama'd legs out from under the warm blankets. It was cold, but the scent welcomed her like dad's hugs, urging her to step gingerly on the chilly floor, drawing her small paw of a hand up to turn the doorknob quietly.

Maybe if she was quiet, she could surprise her momma like dad did.

Opening the door, the scent filled her lungs, it was even stronger now and Anna nearly stumbled as she tried to keep from running to the living room.

Why the living room? Momma and Dad cooked in the kitchen.

The smell quieted her doubt and she peeked around the corner, straining her eyes in the darkness.

She clasped her hands to her mouth in surprise as she saw the source of the sugary smell. A large burly man in a red coat crouched, fiddling with something under the tree with his back to her. Santa.

Her mother's warnings were quickly put aside in her mind as the man's mere presence seemed to draw her towards him. Like a fly to a lamp in the darkness.

The man paused once she reached the couch, merely a few yards away and he glimpsed over his shoulder. "Well then, it looks like I've been found out."

There it was again, the thread of doubt slowly wound its way through her mind, but her mind was quickly lulled back to submission as the smell of freshly baked cookies wafted over her small form.

"Will I get coal in my stocking because I'm not sleeping?" A faint hint of concern drifted over her sleepy face and the red coated man turned to face her, raising to his full height, yet for some reason he didn't look scary as he towered above her.

What looked like amusement passed over his features and he smiled, that smile... an alarm went off in her young mind when she was greeted with the sight of his rows of gleaming sharp teeth, a faint red glow emanating from his tongue. "Why don't you check for yourself?"

With this he unhooked the carefully knitted stocking from the hearth, his strong arms seeming to not notice the bulging weight of the oversized sock.

Why were his teeth so pointy? Weren't Santa's gloves supposed to be white? Why were they red like his coat? Anna's head tilted ever so slightly and the soothing scent of freshly baked cinnabon washed over her consciousness.

Eagerly, she sat on the cold wooden floor, a soft squeal escaping her as he set the stocking before her small socked feet. She could peek into her stocking early! Anna couldn't believe her luck, her cheeks blushing as she imagined what her momma would say once she told her that waking up and finding Santa meant getting presents early.

A shiver of excitement shook her small body and she pulled the stocking a little closer. Reaching in, her fingers clasped around something warm and soft. Puzzled, she looked up at Santa, her young eyes looking for some kind of assurance in the Jolly Man's face; however, instead, she shivered at his smile, and the strange glint in his eyes.

Hesitantly, the young girl pulled on the warm soft thing, struggling to release it from the inside of her stocking before her eyes widened in horror. A hand. Her fingers traced the familiar lines on the palm and froze in shock as she saw the red staining her fingers.

She screamed.

The warm arms which comforted her when she cried were now lying before her, cold and lifeless. "M-MOMMA!" Anna's voice cracked and she scrambled to the other side of the room, her eyes fixing on the burly man in horror. "What did you do to Momma?" The girl sobbed, questions streaming from her puffy lips with each ragged breath, "Why did you hurt my momma?"

His eyes gleamed. "Oh, I've been watching you, Anna Gray. I see you when you're sleeping, I know when you're awake. You should have listened to your mother. Perhaps this would have gone quicker and been less painful for you if you had just listened to her delicious words."

The sharp teeth which lined the large elf's mouth seemed to grow as his body morphed and changed from a burly fat man to some kind of monster.

His rosy skin turned a sick shade of grey, the bloodstained gloves turning into claws as he patted his swollen belly which seemed a gross contrast to his scraggly form. A sweet smelling substance dripped from his jaws, burning holes into the wooden floor beneath the cracked flesh on his dry, reptilian-like, feet.

Skin clung to the bones in his arms as he stepped forward, reaching down and grabbing the arm which the young girl had pulled from the stocking, his teeth ripping into the soft flesh. The demon's eyes never looked at it though, no, they were fixed to the child before him, their red pupils glowing in the darkness.

Crack.

She screamed again, this time for her father as Santa slowly munched on her mother's bones before her and she covered her ears with her small hands in an attempt to escape from the jarring sound.

Anna tried to edge her way towards the hall, her body shaking in grief and shock, however the eyes transfixed her. A silent message etching itself in her mind, _"Stay where you are. Till I'm ready for dessert."_

No sound greeted her screams save the crunching of bone. Dad. Where? Her eyes frantically searched the room, panic clutching her heart as she looked for her last form of comfort. A low moan caught her ears from her parent's bedroom and she looked at Santa Claus, the creature standing there as if he was enjoying this entire endeavour immensely.

Dad, she wanted her dad. Just to tell her that this was just a nightmare, to curl up next to his warm body and let him hug her till she fell asleep. This was just a dream, that wasn't momma, right?

Crying, she got to her feet and ran to the bedroom, not daring to look behind her as tears flooded her vision. "Daddy!", Anna pushed the door open and immediately fell as she slipped on a strange substance staining the floors.

"D-daddy?", the five year old clutched her chest with her hands, a wail of pain filling the house as she fell to her knees to the sight before her. She cried.

The peppery haired man was almost unrecognizable, merely a bloodied form of a man lying on the floor beneath a stretched skin which once belonged to the man was nailed to the wall above him, candy canes and lollipop sticks protruding from the wall to hold it there like a rug.

A ragged breath escaped from the skinned body lying limp on the floor, his lungs expanding and contracting visibly while his heart seemed to beat faintly behind his ribs. "Ah... annah... anna..."

His weak body shuddered once before growing still, his heart coming to a stop before the girl's eyes.

"You like my work!" The stench of doughnuts made her retch as a bloody claw rested on her shoulder from behind her. "I was hoping you'd enjoy it. It truly is rare that I get the joy of visiting such a sweet family. But I suppose that's why I'm here, young innocents are always _oh__ so tasty_."

Anna's mind urged her to move, but her body simply had given up. The girl's eyes were locked onto her father's lidless ones. Her mamma, her dad... the people she looked up to, admired, adored. Why didn't she wake up?

She thought of what her Momma had said when Granny had died. Of how all the people she loved being together after they closed their eyes and fell asleep forever. She hoped she'd see her papa, he couldn't close his eyes.

A soft crackling almost like laughter shuddered behind her, yet she remained motionless, tears staining her cheeks as she watched her dad's bloody form lay before her. Maybe if only she hadn't gotten out of bed when she wasn't supposed to, she would have woken up to presents like every other year.

The red-eyed demon's jaw unhinged like a snake's and swallowed her small body whole, the sickeningly sweet liquid burning the floor where she once knelt, never to be seen again.

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**To be continued... maybe. I really am a horrible human being. What the fuck have I just written.  
**


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